Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden wants fossil fuel execs to go directly to jail if they resist his climate policies, he told a rally. Does that include his son Hunter, who sat on the board of Ukrainian gas firm Burisma?
Biden’s threat came during a meandering 10-minute response to a supporter’s question about climate change at a New Hampshire rally on Sunday. The former vice president demanded accountability from energy companies as he ominously called for setting down “guide rails” so that “the path we set ourselves on” is “irreversible” in the coming decade.
A hypothetical President Biden would first “do away with any subsidy for fossil fuels,” he said. His climate change policy would involve “holding [fossil fuel executives] liable for what they have done, particularly in those cases where your underserved neighborhoods and – you know the deal,” the candidate continued – though judging from the blank faces behind him, they didn’t.
“And by the way, when they don’t, and when they’re deliberate – put them in jail! That’s what I pr—I’m not joking about this,” Biden declared, to scattered applause.
Biden seemed to have forgotten all about his son Hunter Biden’s stint on the board of Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings, an unusual appointment at the time given the younger Biden’s utter lack of experience in the industry. At least one Ukrainian official has claimed the company hired Biden to “protect” itself from scrutiny over dodgy business practices. Unfortunately for both Bidens, Burisma – and the stymied corruption investigation against it – have been back in the headlines ever since the Democrats opened the Ukrainian can of worms with the latest attempt to impeach President Donald Trump.
Of course, he didn’t stop at threatening oil execs (and his son). As another questioner began, “If we don’t stop using fossil fuels,” Biden cut him off with: “We’re all dead.”
Biden the elder has fossil fuel ties of his own that he has struggled to explain on the campaign trail. After pledging (along with other Democratic candidates) not to take any money from the industry, he was caught holding a fundraiser at the home of a fracking bigwig. To add insult to injury, the fundraiser took place the day after Biden appeared at a Climate Town Hall. He also spent almost as much on fuel-guzzling private jets in the third quarter of 2020 as the other three Democratic Party frontrunners combined (and more than twice as much as South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg, the next-most profligate flyer). Biden has scurried to catch up with some of his rivals’ hardline climate change stances after he was slapped with a “D-minus” grade by Greenpeace over his own anemic climate policy. Earlier this month, he boasted that he’d be willing to sacrifice “hundreds of thousands of blue collar workers” in the oil and gas industries in the shift to a greener economy.
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